DHL Stormers tour update – 24 April 2013
DHL Stormers tour update – 24/04/13
Head coach Allister Coetzee on Wednesday announced the DHL Stormers team for this Friday’s Vodacom Super Rugby clash against the Hurricanes.
Coetzee made just three changes to the starting XV that did duty against the Sharks two weeks ago, but fit-again forwards Scarra Ntubeni and Rynhardt Elstadt give the coach plenty of options from the bench. (See the team here: http://thestormers.com/habana-back-for-dhl-stormers/)
“Mike (Rhodes) has settled in nicely (in the team). Continuity is important, especially on tour, so that made it easy for us to keep Mike in the mix at No.7,” explained Coetzee.
“Rynhardt (Elstadt) will cover lock and flank and he will definitely play his part from the bench and, of course, Mike can also cover at lock. I think both our locks have played all the games up till now, so we need to look at giving Kockie (De Kock Steenkamp) or Andries (Bekker) a breather where possible.”
Captain Jean de Villiers, meanwhile, welcomed back his long-time Springbok teammate Bryan Habana, the latter having made a strong recovery from a knee injury which he sustained on March 9.
In typical De Villiers fashion, however, the Stormers skipper joked via the Wednesday-morning teleconference: “Bryan’s still a bit rusty… I’m not sure if his fitness is quite there yet. I’m just joking… Bryan’s sitting next to me in the room as I’m talking to you!
“Seriously though, it’s always great to get back a player of his quality – obviously it will help a lot with the decision-making on the field as well. It takes a bit of pressure off me, having another senior player back, and hopefully that’s the last injury he will get in a DHL Stormers jersey.
“Bryan’s a prolific try-scorer and he’s massive in that regard for us too,” added De Villiers. “He’s massive for us, in many ways, and the opposition keeping an eye on him can hopefully open things up for those around him too.”
The DHL Stormers will travel to Palmerston North (the venue for Friday’s match) on Thursday late morning and will have their captain’s run there. They will return to their current base in Auckland on Saturday morning (all NZ time).
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